A proposal for a computer compiler

Abstract

In recent years digital computers have been applied, with great success, to the automation of an increasing variety of tasks in the design of digital systems, from the printing of wiring tables and the drawing of logical diagrams to the optimization, according to certain criteria, of the layout of components and wiring, and even the actual computer-controlled production of subassemblies such as printed circuit boards or integrated circuits. Similarly, the design of circuits, especially those involving nonlinear elements, has been made easier by computer programs (e.g., which perform tolerance analyses). On the system level, the use of digital computers has been limited to tasks which are equally mechanical, such as programs which check for violations of fan-in, fan-out, and cascading rules.